UCKFIELD

'Uckfield' is a town in the county of East Sussex, in the south of England. It is in the hundred of Loxfield, rape of Pevensey, rural deanery of Uckfield, archdeaconry of Lewes and Diocese of Chichester. Uckfield is 16 miles north-east of Brighton and 43 miles south of London.
Nearby towns include Brighton, Lewes, and Eastbourne to the south, Burgess Hill and Haywards Heath (both in West Sussex) to the west, Heathfield to the east, Hailsham to the south, and Crowborough in East Sussex, Tunbridge Wells and Tonbridge (both in Kent) to the north. Uckfield is twinned with the German town of Quickborn. It has 4 near by villages including Ridgewood
The population of Uckfield in 1811 was 916; in 1841 was 1,534; in 1861 was 1,740; in 1871 was 2,041; in 1881 was 2,146; in 1891 was 2,497; in 1901 was 2,895; in 1911 was 3,344; in 1921 was 3,385; and in 1931 was 3,555. It is currently around 15,000.
Emma Lee French was born here in 1836.
Uckfield was the last place Lord Lucan was seen, at Grants Hill House, the home of his friends Ian and Susan Maxwell-Scott.
Nicholas van Hoogstraten, the property developer, owns property in the area. He is engaged in a long-running dispute with the Ramblers' Association about a local footpath running through his land. Van Hoogstraten is currently building a mansion, Hamilton Palace, on the outskirts of Uckfield.
The cinema in Uckfield was built in 1916, is called ''The Picture House'' and is one of the oldest cinemas in the country as well as being the only cinema for 20 miles in each direction.
Uckfield Community Technology College is the secondary school in the Uckfield area.

Contents

History

Origins of Uckfield's name

Railway

Mysteries of Uckfield

Flooding

Uckfield in literature

References

External links

History

It has existed since the twelfth century, but evidence has been found of stone age tribes that were in place around 9000 BC. The main church in Uckfield, Holy Cross Church, was on a pilgrim route to Chichester. Streets and houses began to be built around the church including the locally famous Pudding Cake Lane where travellers visited a public house for slices of Pudding Cake.
Later, houses developed near the river crossing and the beamed River Cottage, the oldest house still standing in Uckfield today, soon to be renovated and turned into a museum.
Slowly, houses developed in the High Street area and New Town (the south of the town, near Ridgewood) Housing estates were developed such as Harlands Farm, Rocks Park, West Park, Manor Park and Ringles Cross.

Origins of Uckfield's name

The town was originally called Uccafield. Uccafield derives from the Celtic word for 'High' or 'Height' - Uchafedd.(This in turn coming from the Indo European `Uchch'ya'). When the Anglo Saxons heard this word they changed the 'fedd' part to something they understood - 'Feld' from which 'field' derives. The original river Uck name was most likely related to the ancient Celtic word for 'water' or 'stream' - Uisge, derivations uske,usci, that give river names still existing such as the Usk. When the P celts came along the sound of the river name was so close to the sound of Ucha that the name became Uch or Ucca over time and eventually Uck. So Uckfield really means something like 'high place' - Uchafedd - and the river derived its modern name from this Celtic word.
There are, however, other theories as to how the name came about. One theory suggests that it came from "Oak in Field", something which is reflected in several town crests. Another theory is that it used to be the free land of a Saxon man called Ucca.

Railway

Uckfield is connected to London by Southern rail services via East Croydon. Uckfield is the terminating station, although the line ran to Lewes from 1858 to 1969.
Trains previously ran from Uckfield to Tunbridge Wells, but this line was closed in 1985.
Uckfield's new station, which is sited on the other side of the road so that trains don't have to cross a road to just terminate is the terminus for the Oxted Line Uckfield Branch.
There is a campaign, by the Wealden Line to attempt to re-open the railway between Uckfield and Lewes as well as the branch between Eridge and Tunbridge Wells as a part of the National Rail network. A £140,000, six-month feasibility study into this has been approved by the governmoent and is currently underway ^[1].

Mysteries of Uckfield

There are three mysteries and myths surrounding Uckfield. The first is the fact, as mentioned above, that it was the last place Lord Lucan was seen. Secondly, there is the tale of Nan Tuck's Ghost, an old witch who lived in a wood in nearby Buxted. There is an area of the wood where nothing grows, and the ghost apparently chases people who wander down Nan Tuck's Lane at night. Thirdly, there is the hoax of the Piltdown Man, which occurred in the nearby village of Piltdown.

Flooding

Due to its location, Uckfield has been subject to extensive flooding a number of times, the most recent floods being in 1962, 1974, 1989, 1994, 2000 and 2007. This averages out at one flood every nine years or so. Members of the Uckfield and surrounding area have long been lobbying for flood defences in the town, although at present there is little progress on this front.

Uckfield in literature

Uckfield has featured several times in notable literary works.

★ Uckfield was the setting for the book ''Maximum Diner'' by Christopher Nye. It is an autobiographical work which tells of Nye's successful attempt to establish an American-style restaurant in a small town. The Maximum Diner, under new management, is still in operation.

★ Uckfield was featured in Julian Fellowes' novel ''Snobs'' which included the fictional characters, the Marquess and Marchioness of Uckfield.

★ Uckfield was also mentioned in the last chapter of John le Carré's ''The Honourable Schoolboy''.

★ The manic playwright Roland Maule, in the play ''Present Laughter'' by Noel Coward, is from Uckfield.

★ The river Uck was mentioned in the 1990 novel ''Good Omens'' by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.

References

1.

External links

★ Community website for Uckfield

★ Wealden Line Campaign

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